26 July 2016

Half a Year

Today Willow turned 6 months old. It's hard to believe that 6 months ago we were spending our first and only full day and night in hospital together, before bringing her home the next day for my partner and I to start this truly incredible journey as a family.

I've spent the past 6 months feeling as if time has gone by too quickly for me, but now we are at the half year mark I can look back and honestly, it feels like time has gone by much slower than it felt. Half way to 1 is such a big milestone and although I thought I'd dread this day, because it would mean she will soon be a whole year old, quicker than my heart can cope with, instead I am left feeling excitement for the next 6 months ahead.

Willow has changed in more ways than I could possibly describe over the past 6 months. I have spent everyday feeling pure love, joy and a huge sense of pride in the achievements she's made, the milestones she's reached and most importantly - the incredible, bold and independent little girl she is growing into. Her personality is shining through each and everyday and I still feel like my heart will burst with overwhelming love like the moment I first laid eyes on her - just intensified, more than you could possibly imagine.

There's days where I still struggle to comprehend the change she has had not only on our lives, but on me as a person, changing my entire being and purpose. She's softened me, warmed my heart and pulled down those brick walls. I didn't think I was capable of the love I feel for my daughter, and it just grows with each second of everyday.

Over the past month Willow has made some huge changes, gosh she's so independent. She spends most of her time sat up playing with her toys, loving her musical toys and activity sets. She finally, finally rolled over from back to front a couple of weeks ago; she'd been able to do front to back during tummy time for a good 4 weeks or so and having been able to sit up completely unaided, it was like she skipped rolling from back to front! She has also started shuffling, using her arms to pull herself forward with her bum in the air and pushing back down on her knees to move (even if it is only an inch at a time!). I don't think it'll be long until she is crawling and running rings around us as we chase her around!

She is still sleeping wonderfully, only waking up throughout the night on a couple of occasions. The extremely hot weather we had last week definitely didn't help and teething picked up it's pace, with her front 2 teeth popping through over the past month! I'm convinced she pushed them out with such gusto purely for today - the day we started Baby Led Weaning!

This has been a milestone I have counted down to from way back in my pregnancy. I have a whole series starting up on our BLW journey so I won't go into too much detail, but as you can see, someone definitely enjoyed her first tastes of food! Scrambled egg, avocado and toast for breakfast, cheese, cucumber, apple, banana, red pepper and toast for lunch and sweet and sour chicken stir fry with tons of veg and egg noodles for dinner!

Of course with a new 'age milestone' comes a move into her size 6-9 months clothes. Just like the previous times she's moved into the next size, it was quite a bittersweet moment putting away all her 3-6 months clothes, especially the outfits which had become firm favourites. That said, after a few weeks in her new wardrobe I am absolutely smitten with her new outfits and gosh, she melts my heart everyday! I know 'our style' won't be to everyone's taste but every time I pop her in something new, I definitely squeal with joy!

The next month has a really big step for us, one I'm not quite emotionally ready for but a step I know is right for us to take. Willow will be moving into her nursery within the next 4 weeks, sleeping in her big girl cot-bed and I don't doubt, sleeping on her tummy on the first night just to make sure I have a heart attack. If the decision was solely mine, she would stay in our bed for much longer - but I think my partner is well and truly ready for us to have our bed back, and stop getting pushed to the edge each night that she ends up lay next to me! It'll be a sad moment for me when the Snuzpod gets put away. I'll let you know how it goes next month!

A whole 6 months old. The change is phenomenal. 6 months ago my little girl changed my world and I couldn't imagine anything more rewarding than being her mama.

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